Driving the India’s best handling budget sedan that too in its ideal habitat, on curvy roads at the outskirts of Bangalore, sounds like a perfect plan for a Monday morning to kick start the new week. Doesn’t it? Undeniably, Fiesta is among those handful of budget cars on sale in India right now that any enthusiast would love to lay his hands over at any given time. Yet, as with any driver-oriented car, example: Mitsbishi Cedia, it has always been an underdog as far as the game of sales numbers is concerned. Globally, Fiesta is a highly renowned product which is available in both, sedan well as hatchback forms. The company first rolled out sixth generation sedan in 2011 following success marks of Figo (Fiesta Mark-V Hatch) but failed to realize that more than anything else, it was the price which made Figo an overnight triumph.

However, three years later, Ford has revisited its strategies and hit back hard with a due facelift and smart pricing. The car is now only available in high-selling Diesel avatar. Additionally, kinetic blue color, which was in low demand, has been replaced with an all-new and unique Golden Bronze shade. During the media drive event, it was constantly stressed upon the fact that Fiesta is meant for the niche segment but these steps clearly indicate that Ford is now eyeing for volumes from this car. The facelifted model has brought a host of small but significant improvements, including over a dozen of changes on the exteriors. It now looks more muscular and grown up. The biggest change is noticeable on the front with a wide chrome-accentuated trapezoidal grille, sportier front bumper and sleek wraparound headlamps which add to the charisma. The hood too has a power-dome element. These modifications overall also contribute to enhance the road presence in a visual manner.

The side profile is same as earlier, save for Ferrari 599 GTB inspired 15” new alloy wheels. Being derived from a hatchback, Fiesta sedan has a relatively high positioned boot, consequently creating a sharp shoulder line. The car feels quite solid, thanks to tough boron steel reinforcement. Ford also claims that Fiesta was tested more than 150 hours in the wind tunnel to refine its aerodynamic efficiency, causing a 3% reduction in drag, further benefitting fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions. It was made possible partly through revisions to the front air deflector design, the introduction of an enhanced rear spoiler, under body optimization and configuration of light units to separate air flow and reduce the vehicle’s wake. There’s a welcome change on rear-end with a set of refreshed taillamp assembly, that instantly reminded me of the new Ford Mondeo. Not only these taillamps look much better than the older ones but also help to somewhat disguise the otherwise puny rear stance. Moreover, what’s worth noting is that Fiesta now comes with two reverse lamps instead of one.

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Ford has cleverly retweaked the interiors without fiddling around with the design. The sense of claustrophobia still exists but has been slightly put to control by dual tone light shade interior color. But it’s all forgotten as soon as you get behind the steering wheel. Front bucket seats are incredibly supportive and dashboard has a fairly futuristic design with a clear focus towards the driver. It looks more pleasing at night upon illuminating in ice-blue color. The controls of mobile-phone inspired center console are well-within driver’s reach. Along with SYNC technology that we’ve seen in EcoSport, Fiesta now also incorporates Ford AppLink for the first time in India. Availability of such technologies in budget cars is certainly a good sign for consumers and a strong indication of rapid development in the automotive industry.

The following information about SYNC is quoted from our Ford EcoSport Review which also applies to Fiesta 2014:

Nearly a decade old relationship between Ford and Microsoft Corporation has invented the SYNC technology which is based on ‘Windows Embedded Automotive’ software platform and it’ll be first of its kind on a car in India. Hands-free SYNC allows the occupants to pair up to twelve Bluetooth enabled mobile phones, regardless of OS, with car’s on-board device. It replicates phone’s data (read phonebook, music tracks etc) so that you can conveniently make / receive calls or play the desired song using voice command. You could also search the music by genre, album, author or its title. Good part is that the data isn’t accessible unless the phone is paired.

Come back into the car and data updates automatically based on the changes done in phone. A 3.5 inch screen located right in middle of dashboard shows all the essential information, including contacts list, caller log, signal strength, caller ID, call waiting and phone battery level. SYNC is capable of reading SMS text for you and understands certain common abbreviations and smilies too. Eg: LOL and :-). If you’re in mood of listening similar tracks, then on-board device will instantly compile a list through ‘Play Similar’ command. The voice control on Ecosport is supposedly superior to the one we tested on Fiesta 2011. Presently, SYNC understands only UK English but it’s tuned to recognize 150 voice commands and deal with the variations in accents. The on-board computer recognized commands 8 times out of 10 in our voice command test. Even when it didn’t, Serena (a sweet female voice) was kind enough to offer us very close suggestions. Ford is now working with their partner, Nuance Communications, to make the voice control feature more friendly and intuitive for the first time users.

Another interesting feature Ecosport comes packed with is the ‘Emergency Assistance System’. It’s a useful life-saving tool which maybe first for the Indian market but is already popular abroad. Here’s how it functions: God forbid; if your car is involved in an accident serious enough to deploy the airbags or automatic fuel cut off is activated, SYNC will initiate a phone call via the Bluetooth paired mobile phone to India’s emergency number 108 (allowing a ten second time frame to cancel it using hang up button if not required), then it informs about accident and forwards location coordinates to the authorities, subsequently letting you to talk further with the operator. Note that upon pairing the phone for the first time, screen prompts to confirm if you’d like to enable the emergency assist or not.

In addition to SYNC, AppLink allows customers to conveniently access their favorite Smartphone applications through simple voice-commands. The first three apps available for Ford’s Applink in India include MapMyIndia (For navigation), ESPN Cricinfo (For live cricket scores), Glympse (for real-time location sharing). The company has also established an online platform for developers at “developer.ford.com” where they can try to create new apps for free. Currently there are over 10 million cars on road in the world which are equipped with SYNC. Ford predicts this number to increase upto 14 million by next year. India is the third market to receive a Ford car featuring AppLink, after China and Australia. This feature will soon be introduced in Taiwan, New Zealand and Thailand as well.

Fiesta’s air-conditioner proved to be quite effective to overcome Bangalore’s heat but what slightly bothered was the dashboard reflection on windscreen under direct sunlight. Just like Classic, audio system of this car is simply fantastic for a stock unit. The rear seats, however, are not Fiesta’s forte. Getting into the rear seat isn’t a very joyful experience. And once accommodated, the space is limited for two full sized adults. Even for a child as third occupant will be a bit of a squeeze. Not that the space is so terrible, but then, it isn’t great either. Simply put, it’s just manageable. Ford is aware about this issue which is why; it has chopped a portion of the front seatback in an attempt to extend slight legroom. Middle armrest is small but usable with multiple cup holders. Though unfortunately, it still has the exposed hinges which seem outright cheap. Apparently, Ford also claims there’s a difference on rear seat headrests but I couldn't find any.

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Back in Mid-2011, when Ford rolled out the Global Fiesta in India, it was available in both, Petrol and Diesel engine options. The peppy 1.5L TiVCT Petrol which churned out 108 brake horse power and 140 Nm torque has been unluckily discontinued because of low sales. Now only the 1.5 Liter DuraTorq TDCi (Diesel) does the duty under the hood of Fiesta 2014, offering 91 PS of power @ 3750 RPM and ample of torque of 204 Nm between 2000 – 2750 RPM. This motor delivers ARAI claimed mileage of 25.01 Kmpl which is second best in the segment, after Honda City (26 Kmpl). Having equipped with true-keyless entry, all you have to do is pull the door handle to get inside, press clutch and tap ‘Start-Stop’ button located besides the steering on left. You’re all set to move.

Engineers have worked to further refine the already outstanding NVH levels of New Fiesta. The car is amazingly quiet when idle and releasing the clutch immediately unleashes the amount of torque this engine has in store. However, there’s a noticeable turbo lag below 2000 RPM range. Additionally, the car begins to shudder in the lower-range as if it’s on a verge of getting stalled. Due to this, it often required downshift in city. Although Fiesta tends to show its true character once it approaches open roads. The sudden surge in punchy mid-range that pushes you back to seat upon gentle press of the accelerator is always exhilarating. From here on, power continues to remain linear and ultimately settles down by the time engine speed comes to redline.

There’s more than enough juice on the north of three digit mark complemented with a rock-solid stability. Gladly, in the event of an emergency braking situation, brakes didn’t disappoint and our test car performed in an equally effective manner. For those upgrading from smaller cars will find a somewhat stiffer feeling of the pedals but it’s only a matter of time until they become used to. The clutch pedal is decent, neither too soft nor too stiff. Personally speaking, I felt at home considering that I myself drive a Ford Classic on regular basis. Likewise, the gearshift of Classic isn’t smoothest one around, same goes for Fiesta. On the other hand, electric power assisted steering wheel (EPAS) is perfectly precise and perhaps the best part about this car. It automatically detects and controls weight of the steering. As a result, the car is convenient to maneuver while parking and at the same time, also inspires confidence when driving at high speeds.

Fiesta name tag is in itself synonymous to superb handling and Mark-VI carries the torch forward. The way in which this car beautifully takes on the sharp corners is indeed worth applaud. The ride quality is somewhat comparable to Classic. It’s obviously on the stiffer side translating that if not completely, the suspension partially manages to soak up the minor bumps at regular speeds. On the safety front, Ford has thankfully not compromised. Airbags, ABS with EBD is standard across all variants. Ford Fiesta has always been a car for the self-driven lot but high price tag kept potential buyers away. Now with a tempting pricing that undercuts the competition by a considerable margin, along with bold new looks and host of modern features, Fiesta definitely makes a strong case for itself.